Join us for NJPSA’s 2017 Legislative Conference. You’ll have a chance to hear and directly weigh in the New Jersey Department of Education’s proposed changes to school accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act! You’ll also have a chance to hear from Legislators and Gubernatorial Candidates on what to expect politically and policy wise as we move into this year’s election!
Watch the live stream of the Legislative Conference
Can’t make it? We still need YOU and YOUR VOICE in the conversation!!!
With 120 legislative seats as well as the Governorship up this year, Election 2017 WILL determine the future direction of our schools and the State! Help drive the conversation in 2017 by contributing to NJPSA’s Political Action Committee (NJPSA PAC) today! Your donation of $25 or more helps NJPSA advocate for you!
In this critical time, with pensions and health benefits and even public education on the line, we need YOU more than ever!
Your contribution (minimum of $25), helps ensure that school leaders remain visible in the eyes of State lawmakers. With efforts afoot that would diminish school leaders’ pension and health benefit rights, as well as federal efforts to privatize education ― now is the time to act!
But financial help is only one piece of the puzzle. We need your expertise!
Please review the State’s ESSA plan and then help us advocate for what matters – a fair and equitable accountability system.
While NJPSA has participated in stakeholder meetings with the Department they need to hear from YOU!
NJSPA has 3 primary concerns with the proposed plan as it relates to Accountability:
- Growth matters! The current proposal places equal weight for accountability purposes on performance and growth. Education stakeholders throughout the process urged that growth be given additional weight as it is more reflective of what educators are doing with and for students. Consider resetting the weights to focus more attention on growth over simple performance.
- Importance of N-size! ESSA allowed States to revisit the ‘n-size’ for accountability purposes. The proposed plan changes that from a former ‘n’ of 30 to 20. With so many changes in the accountability system, coupled with no guarantee as to the validity of an ‘n’ of 20 versus a former ‘n’ of 30 – stay the course and keep the ‘n’ at 30. This will also allow for better comparison between the former accountability system and the one the State will embark on upon adoption of the ESSA plan
- Time to get it right! States can submit plans in either an April or September window. In light of the complexity of this plan, we would urge the NJDOE to consider allowing more review time than just 30 days to ensure that we have a plan that works for ALL NJ students, school leaders, and schools!
Weighing in with the Department via their online survey only takes a moment so weigh in today!